NEW YORK, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Global stocks and the euro rose
on Friday on signs of progress in talks about releasing aid to
Greece and after an influential German survey found business
sentiment had improved in Europe's largest economy.

Wall Street got a lift from bellwether technology stocks
such as Intel and Microsoft - each up about 2
percent. An index of semiconductor stocks gained 1.8
percent, while the S&P information technology sector index
rose 1.2 percent.

Friday marked the start of the holiday shopping season and
gave investors a reason to scoop up retailers' shares on hopes
that consumers will go out en masse to spend.

Regular U.S. stock trading session will end early on Friday
at 1 p.m. (1800 GMT). The stock market was closed on Thursday
for the Thanksgiving holiday. With many investors away on
holiday, volume was low. About 1.9 billion shares have traded so
far on the New York Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq and the NYSE MKT,
compared with the daily average for the year to date of 6.5
billion.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 106.42
points, or 0.83 percent, at 12,943.31. The Standard & Poor's 500
Index was up 11.89 points, or 0.85 percent, at 1,402.92.
The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 32.30 points, or 1.10
percent, at 2,958.85.

European shares posted their best weekly gain so far this
year after rising for a fifth day on Friday. The
FTSEurofirst-300 index of pan-European shares rose 0.6
percent to end at 1,110.45.

Germany's BASF and Bayer led a rally in
chemical stocks after a German business morale index surprised
with its first increase in seven months, raising the prospect
that Europe's largest economy can regain some momentum.

The euro rose as high as $1.2943 on Reuters data,
breaking above resistance at $1.2910, its 55-day moving average.
It was last trading at $1.2941, up 0.5 percent on the day.

Against the yen, the euro also hit a seven-month high of
106.73 yen and was last at 106.65 yen, up 0.4 percent.

MSCI's world equity index was up 1 percent
on Friday at 329.42 points. It was on track to record its best
weekly performance since mid-September.

Earlier, MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares
outside Japan rose 0.7 percent for a weekly gain
of 2.6 percent, also its best week for two months.

Optimism about a deal to help Greece, hopes that United
States lawmakers can agree on a solution to avoid a fiscal
crisis, and data showing an improving global economic outlook
have driven a rally in riskier asset markets this week.

Greece said the International Monetary Fund had relaxed its
debt-cutting target for the country, suggesting lenders were
closer to a deal for a vital aid tranche to be paid. But other
sources involved in the talks cautioned that the funding gap was
far bigger than Greece has suggested.

"While we wouldn't want to understate the challenges of
reaching agreement on Greece, news reports have described some
of the remaining obstacles as technical and legal, and thus the
hurdles to a deal do not seem insurmountable," said Nick
Bennenbroek, head of currency strategy at Wells Fargo in New
York.

Euro-zone finance ministers, the IMF and the European
Central Bank (ECB) failed earlier this week to agree on how to
get the country's debt down to a sustainable level. They will
make a third attempt at resolving the issue on Monday.

"Anything positive out of Europe related to the sovereign
debt ... that can act as a catalyst," said Todd Salamone,
director of research at Schaeffer's Investment Research in
Cincinnati.

The S&P 500 looked likely to break a two-week losing streak,
having gained more than 3 percent this week so far. Stocks had
tumbled earlier in the month on worries about the impact of
mandatory tax and spending changes to take effect in early
January, but hopes that politicians will reach a deal to avoid
the "fiscal cliff" helped the market recoup some of those losses
this week.

The benchmark S&P 500 also climbed back above the 1,400
level, which could provide support.

On the open market, the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note
traded 1/32 lower in price to yield 1.685 percent,
up 0.5 percent from late on Wednesday. The 10-year note's yield
was poised for its first weekly rise in five weeks.

GOLD AND OIL GAIN

In commodities, gold rose to its highest level in more than
a month on Friday, gaining 1 percent as a combination of a
decline in the dollar, options-related buying and technical
support sent the metal up near $1,750 an ounce.

Oil rose above $111 a barrel on Friday as
better-than-expected German business sentiment data helped ease
worries about demand in the euro-zone economies, boosting the
euro against the dollar, while fresh protests broke out in Egypt
and led to supply concerns.

Brent crude futures were up 53 cents at $111.08 a
barrel at 1607 GMT. U.S. crude was up 81 cents at $88.17.
The U.S. market, which was closed on Thursday for the
Thanksgiving holiday, will not issue a formal settlement price
until later Friday.

On Thursday, Israel began withdrawing its army, which had
been poised to invade the Gaza Strip in pursuit of militants
firing rockets into Israel.

Although the Gaza ceasefire is holding, violence has emerged
in Egypt. In Cairo's Tahrir Square, thousands of people
participated in demonstrations against President Mohamed Mursi.
Police fired teargas into the crowd in an attempt to disburse
it.